Following the departure of founders Randy Saaf and Octavio Herrera, the future for MediaDefender looked even more uncertain than it did previously. However, those concerned that their favorite anti-piracy spoofing company might drift away, fear no more. MediaDefender's parent company just acquired everyone's favorite anti-piracy tracking company, MediaSentry.

ARTISTdirect, the company that owns infamous anti-piracy spoofing company MediaDefender has just announced that it has acquired SafeNet’s anti-piracy tracking company, MediaSentry.

Following the departure of its two founders, MediaDefender CEO Dimitri Villard said MediaSentry had been bought for $936,000, comprised of $136,000 in cash and an $800,000 1 year note.

“The combination of MediaDefender, the leader in Internet Piracy Prevention (IPP) with MediaSentry, the leader in business and marketing intelligence derived from P2P channels, creates a true powerhouse in the field of intellectual property protection,” Villard said. “This acquisition will enable MediaDefender to dramatically expand its effectiveness by providing customers with a wide range of options to meet the constantly evolving challenges in copyright protection and enforcement.”

Among file-sharers, MediaDefender grew to become one of the most hated anti-p2p companies but always maintained that it did not track individuals or report them to the authorities or copyright holders. With its acquisition of MediaSentry, a company designed to do just that, MediaDefender now boasts the full range of tools to hinder, mislead, track, monitor and report copyright infringers.

Previously a SafeNet Inc. subsidary, MediaSentry became well known as the RIAA’s main anti-piracy partner, providing crucial support to the lobby group during its aggressive litigation campaign against file-sharers. The RIAA dumped MediaSentry in January, choosing to work with Danish tracking company DtecNet instead.

MediaSentry is best known for harvesting IP-addresses of alleged copyright infringers but their methodology has been questioned in court by several experts. On top of that, Mediasentry’s investigation tactics were deemed illegal in several states because it operated without the appropriate and required paperwork. According to some, this was why they were ditched by the RIAA.